Inc. Hears . . .

May 02, 1986|By Michael Sneed & Kathy O`Malley.

-- Ya gotta have friends: The Chicago Housing Authority awarded a $23,000 P.R. contract to an outfit called North Star Communications. Hmmmmm. Isn`t it true that two of North Star`s principals are Mayor Harold Washington`s former press secretary, Grayson Mitchell, and Helene Colvin Wallace, hizzoner`s former commissioner of women`s affairs? Just asking.

-- That Ald. Marion Volini (48th), a member of the mayor`s bloc, may become the woman of the glower. Will she get smart, refuse to join either side in the Chicago City Council and become a floater wielding tie-breaking power? Or will she join a new coalition: The Richard Daley bloc? Stay tuned.

-- Scratch a published report that it`s against the law for Ald. Gerald McLaughlin (45th), a police officer on a leave of absence, to get his sergeant`s promotion until he returns full time. Former Ald. Ivan Rittenberg, who was a police lieutenant, was promoted to captain while on the city council. So there. McLaughlin claims acting Corporation Counsel Judson Miner made him an offer he`s gonna refuse: his sergeant`s stripes for switching to the mayor`s bloc. Naughty. Naughty.

THE VRDOLYAK MATTER . . .

-- Pick a plan. Any plan. INC. hears a top Dem leader (helloooooo, U.S. Rep. Bill Lipinski) is summoning Dem committeemen to a Saturday summit to seek Cook County Dem chairman Ed Vrdolyak`s resignation. ``Bill feels the only way to win the mayoral election is to get Eddie out and forge a united front to get everybody behind one candidate,`` said a top Dem source. The candidate?

(33d) is hustling for Byrne, and he tells pals he`s got Lipinski, a Daley ally, in his corner! Stay tuned.

-- INC. is told Mayor Washington may be chortling over Vrdolyak`s demise, but he is also praying that Eddie maintains the top Dem spot. Hizzoner needs a lightning rod, folks. And Vrdolyak is it.

-- Contrary to published reports, Ald. Bill Banks (36th) is not defecting to the Washington camp. ``I never said at any time that I would break with Vrdolyak or defect from the majority camp,`` Banks told INC. ``I totally support the policies and principles of the former majority. I am diametrically opposed to Washington and his principles. I know this sounds strong and heavy- handed. If the mayor supported an issue that was germane to the 36th Ward, I would vote along with him. But that`s nothing new. I`ve done that before.``

SCHOOL DAZE . . .

Rumors that Roosevelt University is thisclose to signing a deal to buy shuttered George Williams College in Downers Grove are ``totally unfounded,`` according to Roosevelt President Rolf A. Weil. Philip Harper, the acting president of George Williams, says, ``We have been negotiating with several institutions for some time, but it could be quite a while before any decision is made.``

STAR TRACKS . . .

Pick a story, any story: Poplar Creek says Dolly Parton canceled her July 25 show there. Dolly`s manager, Jim Morey, tells INC. that contracts were never signed, so there never was a show. . . . INC. hears Bill (``Dynasty``)

Campbell and Virginia (``Mussolini``) Madsen have split. . . . ``Saturday Night Live`` host for May 10 will be Morgan Fairchild; ``musical guest host`` is Paul Simon. Zzzzzzz. . . . Because INC. hasn`t exactly been the headquarters of the Mr. T Fan Club, it seems only fair to report a nice story about the guy. At the U.S. marshal`s auction this week, he offered $20,000 to buy Muhammad Ali`s World Boxing Association championship rings from a suburban furniture dealer who had purchased them for $8,000. Ali sold the rings when times were tough, and `T` wanted to get them back for him. But the furniture guy, an Ali fan from way back, wouldn`t sell--even to Mr. T. Now that`s a fan. THAT`S ENTERTAINMENT . . .

Those-Dennises-Are-So-Hard-To-Tell-Apart Department: Dennis Franz is in

``Hill Street Blues`` and will be in Tribune TV commercials, as INC. reported Thursday. But it`s Dennis Farina, not Franz, who stars in Michael Mann`s ``Crime Story,`` now filming here. Sorry, Dennis. Sorry, Dennis. . . . Dennis MacIntyre (amazing how INC. groups items together, eh?) missed the opening of his ``Split Second`` at Victory Gardens in March because he was working on the screenplay. But he`ll finally get into town to see the play Saturday--the day before it closes.